CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Doctors have cleared Tony Stewart to race at Speedweeks but have told him not to drive his racecar before the first practice session Daytona International Speedway next month to minimize the risk of aggravating his broken leg.

Stewart said his left leg will be about 65 percent healed when he gets to Daytona as he continues therapy after an Aug. 5 sprint-car racing accident where he broke both his right tibia and fibula. Stewart has needed three surgeries since the accident and missed the final 15 races last year.

The three-time Cup champion won't actually run laps in a Cup car until Feb. 14, the first day of practice for the Sprint Unlimited the next day and nine days before the Daytona 500.

“I’m cleared to start the day before the Shootout (Unlimited),” Stewart said Monday during the first day of the annual Sprint Media Tour. "With the bone being healed only 65 percent (by then), he’s not wanting me to risk getting in a car any earlier than I have to compete.

“As much as I would like to be in a car testing, and it would be great for us as a team to test, we need to let that leg have as much time to heal (as possible) before we actually have to get in the car. We’re not anticipating any problems, but it’s just eliminating opportunities for something to aggravate it or re-injure it.”

Stewart had two surgeries the week after the accident, one to stabilize the injury and another to insert a titanium rod in his leg, which had been punctured by a torque tube. He then had a third in October because of an infection.

“The strength will be as strong as it was before the injury because of the titanium rod (in my leg),” Stewart said. “Do we feel like there’s a risk? No more than there normally would be. It’s just a matter of what do we have to do comfort-wise, whether it’s little things like vibration that normally wouldn’t be an issue.”

Stewart said his Stewart-Haas Racing team is trying to be proactive, adding padding in places where there might be a problem. He is hoping that they get to Daytona and realize they have been overly cautious.

Because he’s lost weight — “it was a very effective weight-loss program but I don’t recommend it for everyone,” he said — Stewart has had to have a new seat and he has sat in the car and pushed the pedals.

Stewart said he is not worried about getting back into race shape. He believes that at his top fitness level last year, he could race 1,000 miles on one day.

“Driving a racecar is as much mental as it is physical,” Stewart said. “The mental side, we’re plenty ready to go from that standpoint.”

When driving a street car, Stewart said he has not felt any pain nor any discomfort.

“I don’t see there being anything that is going to be a drama, it’s more just not knowing 100 percent until we get there,” Stewart said.

What Stewart expects is that he will experience some pain.

“I haven’t had a pain-free day since August 5th,” Stewart said. “There is a level of pain every day. … We’re going to have that pain for a while, but I’m most comfortable when I’m sitting in the car.”

And he accepts that he could get hurt again and aggravate the injury.

“There’s always that possibility — guys that were healthy got hurt last year,” Stewart said. “Martin (Truex Jr.) broke his wrist. Denny (Hamlin) had the fracture in his back. There’s always that inherent risk every time you go out.

“This is an injury that’s not healed 100 percent. There’s no bones about it. It is a reality it can get injured again.”